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Public Health

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Public health refers to social, cultural, economic, and geographic conditions that affect a population's well-being. To assist local, national, and international health agencies and organizations, RAND conducts research on public health issues including disaster preparedness and recovery; surveillance, prevention, and management of infectious disease outbreaks; screening for and prevention of chronic diseases; and ways to strengthen the public health infrastructure.

For now, public health officials and their partners must do all they can to control Zika virus, using the tools at hand. That may include instituting a public health campaign to reduce mosquito-breeding sites and promoting prudent protection against mosquito bites.

Gun violence is an important public health problem that accounts for more than 33,000 deaths each year in the United States. But in 1996, Congress stripped the CDC of funding for any research that could be associated with gun control advocacy. The lack of CDC funding has deterred researchers.

Sleep and sleep loss are often considered to be among the most intimate of personal behaviors, but sleep matters to all aspects of society, from an individual’s health to the success of the global economy.

Sleep deprivation leads to a higher mortality risk and lower productivity levels among the workforce, putting a significant damper on a nation's economy. It leads to the U.S. losing around 1.2 million working days a year.

Sleep deprivation leads to a higher mortality risk and lower productivity levels among the workforce, putting a significant damper on a nation's economy. It leads to the UK losing around 200,000 working days a year.

While the U.S. blood system continues to function well, more government oversight may be needed to safeguard the future of the blood supply and prevent blood shortages from posing a risk to the public's health.

Public health leaders should be able to articulate the business case for their work and should have the skills to work with others outside the health sector. Schools could help by preparing students to think beyond the traditional boundaries of public health.

Many Americans struggle to receive acute care when they need it. The health care system is not focused on meeting unscheduled needs. Reforming acute care delivery will require making it a policy and research priority.

There has been hope that retail clinics would help lower health care costs by diverting care from costly emergency departments to more convenient and lower-cost retail clinics, but new findings do not support that idea.

On behalf of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission (DG SANTE), RAND Europe is undertaking an evaluation of the EC Action Plan Against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

When Hurricane Matthew swept across Haiti, it left a resurgence of cholera in its wake. Tackling cholera head-on should be on the short list of health priorities for disaster relief in the island nation.

Researcher Spotlight

Assistant Policy Analyst

Gulrez Shah Azhar is a doctoral candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. Previously he was a senior lecturer and assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Public Health, part of the Public Health Foundation of India. There he…

Associate Research Group Director, RAND Europe

Emma Pitchforth is an associate director of the Innovation, Health and Science group at RAND Europe and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research interests include applying social science methods and perspectives to key issues concerning the provision and experience of health…

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